PUPILS at Ysgol Friars got the chance to inspect pieces of history from the American wild west frontier last week.

Representatives of the Custer Association visited the school to discuss the Battle of Little Big Horn where the US Cavalry Colonel, George Armstrong Custer met his doom at the hands of warriors from the Sioux and Cheyenne tribe in June,1876

History teacher Aaron Evans said: “As part of an attempt to bring more living history into the classroom, representatives of the Custer Association gave presentations to a group of 85 Year 11 students.”

Laurence Sherrington, chairman of the group, discussed who was to blame for the defeat of the American army at the Little Bighorn.

Archaeologist Derek Batten, is the only non-American to take part in recent digs and discussed what has been found at the battle site.

Mr Evans said: “The pupils were engaged with historical sources and visual presentation of the work, including illustrations, pictographs and photos of the site today, as well as handling some artefacts from the battle site itself.

“The history department is very grateful for the help, co-operation and time given by these two historians. This feeling has been reflected by the enthusiasm of the students after the presentation.”

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In late 1875, Sioux and Cheyenne Indians defiantly left their reservations, outraged over the continued intrusions of whites into their sacred lands in the Black Hills.

They gathered in Montana with the great warrior Sitting Bull to fight for their lands. The following spring, two victories over the US Cavalry emboldened them to fight on in the summer of 1876.

To force the large Indian army back to the reservations, the army dispatched three columns to attack in coordinated fashion, one of which contained Custer and the Seventh Cavalry.

Spotting the Sioux village about 15 miles away along the Rosebud River on June 25, Custer also found a nearby group of about 40 warriors. Ignoring orders to wait, he decided to attack before they could alert the main party. He did not realise that the number of warriors in the village numbered three times his strength.

As the Indians closed in, Custer ordered his men to shoot their horses and stack the carcasses to form a wall, but they provided little protection against bullets. In less than an hour, Custer and his men were killed in the worst American military disaster ever.